S. M. Garver - Wildlife Photos

This page shows adult white ibises and the many phases of the juvenile ibises.

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Close view of this blue-eyed bird. Notice the black spot on the rear which is the tips of the black feathers visible when the bird is in flight.
[Close view of the ibis as it stands in water half-way up its legs.]

This ibis was watching me.
[One ibis stands in the grass in the center of the photo looking toward the camera. Three others aer bent towards the grass with one of those also appearing to see the camera.]

One ibis is eyeing the sky.
[Three ibises stand in the grass with one having the left side of its head turned toward the sky.]

Adults in flight
[Two adults are airborne with wings fully stretched. The outer edges are black while the rest of the feathers are white.]

Ibis feathers change from brown to white as the bird matures. This juvenile in flight still has many brown feathers.
[One juvenile ibis flying from left to righ in the blue sky. The sun coming from the left lights the mostly brown far wing. Most of the rest of the bird forms an outline against the clear sky including its long curved beak. ]

An immature ibis on the left with an adult beside it.
[Two ibises walk through the water creating ripples on the water's surface. The adult apperas to have only white feathers. The younger one has a light brown neck and head. Its body is a mixture of white and dark brown feathers.]

This young one was wandering on its own in late April. While there were other birds nearby, I saw no other ibises.
[A bird with a long, curved orange beak emanating from a light brown head and neck. It's body has areas of all white feathers and other areas with brown feathers. It stands on long, skinny orange legs with three-toed feet. The bird is behind a fallen, leafless tree branch.]

I presume the ibis on the left was born this year while the one on the right was probably born last year.
While males are larger than females, the age difference is probably also a reason for the size difference.
[Two ibises pick at something in the grass. The one on the right appears nearly twice as larger as the one on the left. The one on the left has almost no white plumage while the one on the has mostly white plumage. Both birds have light brown feathers on their necks.]

Here are a few more ibises from the group with the two from the prior photo.
There appears to still be some brown in the head of the nearest ibis so these are probably all young ones.
[Four ibises pick at something in the grass. Two are nearly all white while the other two do not yet have any white feathers.]

Close view of one of the very young ones.
[A nearly all brown ibis with a few white feathers picks at something in the grass. Several of the brown feathers are ruffled.]

When young, ibises often travel in large groups.
[A group of ten mostly white ibises stand in shallow water in a stormwater basin.]

This is a zoomed out view of the prior image.
I saw the birds while driving on a road over the stormwater drainage area about 200 yards to the right of the birds.
[The birds look like white specs against the dark water. One can see the main road with open passageways for water flow under it. Cars are driving from left to right on the road.]

Here's one of the young ones in the group pictured above.
It balances on one foot while it rests. The toes of the other foot hand down from its belly area.
[An ibis with only a few brown feathers and a very light brown neck stands on one foot in the water. Only the toes of the second foot is visible since it has its leg tucked against its belly.]

Another one of the young ones with a leg held close to its body.
The light colored lines on the under feathers are a reflection of the edges of the pebbles in the water.
[An ibis with slightly more few brown feathers than the prior bird stands on one foot in the water pruning its back feathers. The toes of the second foot are curled like the fingers of a hand as it hangs from the leg tucked against its belly.]

These two were traveling together. They may be siblings since they're at approximately the same transition stage from youngster to adult.

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